Curved glove



Feb. 29, 1944. N 2,343,220

CURVED GLOVE Filed Jan. 17, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 3mm HM/VIw/K,

Feb. 29, 1944. A. MASON 2,343,220

CURVED GLOVE Filed Jan. 17, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Zlwucmtom MUM PatentedFeb. 29, 1944 cuavsn GLOVE Arthur H. Mason, Evanston, 111., assignor toWells Lamont Corporation, a corporation of Minnesota Application January17, 1941, Serial No. 374,932

3 Claims.

This invention relates to gloves, and is particularly concerned with theformation of gloves of .curvilinear form. In particular the invention isconcerned with the production of gloves wherein certain portions extendin angular relation to other portions.

It is the conventional practic to form gloves of both work and dresstype in flat form, whereas in the normal position of the hand thefingers are bent to some degree and extend at an angle to the palm. Itis therefore clea that gloves of conventional form are not fashioned tothe normal shape of the hand. This is not a serious problem where thegloves are made of light, flexible and more or less stretchable materialbecause in the course of wear the gloves will gradually be adjusted inshape. On the other hand, where the glove is made of stiff material suchas certain cheap grades of leather and certain coarse fabrics, and whereit is formed of rubberized material the conventional shape of glove isnot satisfactory. Not only does the glove not form itself to the handeven after considerable wear, but it is extremely difilcult to bend thefingers.

' The problem referred to has been recognized, and it has been proposedto improve rubberized fabric gloves by vulcanizing with the fingers bentto various degrees. In such practic a fabric glove blank is made in flatform in the conven-.

tional manner, and after being subjected to a rubber coating treatmentis put on a form of the desired shape for vulcanization. Thevulcanization of the rubber is intended to fix the shape of the glove inthe desired curved form. Such practice has been successful to aconsiderable de ree, but it is obvious, however, that the glove is notas satisfactory as might be desired because it is necessarily distortedout of the flat shape in which it was oridinally out. In particulardifficulty has been experienced in the fingers, and particularly at thefinger tips. In molding the glove to bend the fingers in the directionof the palm a pull is created lengthwise of th finger backs whichresults in the finger tip areas rolling rearwardly so as to draw theseams, which normally should extend across the tops of the fingersmedially thereof, towards the back face of the fingers and produce acertain amount of wrinkling in the areas of the finger tips.

According to the present invention gloves are made with a specialpattern calculated to result in the normal inclination of the glovefingers in relation to the glove palm, and the fingers may be bent toany desired degree more easily than in the case of gloves patterned infiat form. Whereas in the rubberized gloves just; referred to theshaping of the glove is dependent upon the vulcanization of the rubber,the present inventlon enables these characteristics to be embodied ingloves of stifi leather or fabric which are devoid of rubber. Theinvention is, however particularly useful in connection with rubberizedfabric gloves, and distinguishes over the prior practlces in such fieldin that the new glove is su1tably shaped to fit the form upon which thesame is vulcanized after coating with rubber, with the result that theglove does not subsequently tend to wrinkle and distort. According tothe invention the fingers may be readily inclmed to the palm withoutthrowing the seams across the finger tips from their intended medialposition rearwardly towardsthe back face of the fingers.

The invention will be understood by reference to the embodiment thereofillustrated in the drawmgs.

In such drawings:

. Fig. 1 is a perspective view looking from the back of a gloveembodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the second finger of the glove ofFig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the blank for the glove of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a view of the main thumb section;

Fig. 6 shows the second finger back section:

Fig. 7 shows the third finger back section; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view of the front and back parts of the secondfinger in superposed relation to illustrate their common curvature atthe finger tip.

The characteristic feature of the invention is that the back length ofthe glove is of greater length than the front of the glov in sucharrangement that there will be a greater length of material at the backof certain or all of the fingers than in the corresponding frontportions. In particular, the length of the finger backs measured fromthe base to the tip of the fingers is made greater than the length ofthe corresponding front portions.

of the second finger porated in all of the fingers, or only aportion ofThis feature may be incorof the seam and proper shaping of the finger atthe tip areas it is desirable that the curve of the back and frontfinger sections across the tips should be the same.

The glove shown in Fig. 1 is a work glove made from the patterned partsshown in Figs. 4 through 7, which are composed of cotton or othersuitable fabric. The blank 9 of Fig. 4 includes the palm section havingintegral therewith index finger front [0, second finger front H, thirdfinger front l2, and fourth finger front l3. Also integral with blank 9are index finger back 20 and little finger back 23, and the innerportion I 4 of the thumb. The rest of the thumb is composed of part 24of Fig. 5. The second finger back2 I is shown in Fig. 6, and the thirdfinger back 22 is shown in Fig. 7. It will be observed that finger backs20, 2|, 22 and 23 are wider than the respective finger fronts H), II, l2and If to provide the sides of the fingers. With this arrangement itwill be understood to those skilled in the art that the finger seam, asindicated at 25 in Fig. 2, will be disposed adjacent the palm face ofthe glove. The back of the glove below the fingers is formed by portions25 and 2'! of blank 9 and the reduced extensions 28 and 29 of the twomiddle finger pieces 2| and 22.

According to the invention, to facilitate bendingof the fingers thesecond finger back 2| is of a greater length a than the length a of thecorresponding finger front I I measured from the finger base to thefinger tip. Similarly, the third finger back 22 is of greater length 1)than the length l) of the corresponding finger front l2. In the blankshown in Fig. 4 the same relation holds for length of the index fingerback 20 in'relation to length c of the corresponding fin ger front Ill.The length d of the little finger back 23 may also be made of greaterlength than length d of the corresponding finger front), but in theblank of Fig. 4 such lengths are the same. because of the relativelyshort length of the little finger and the lesser degree of bending towhich it is ordinarily subjected.

The difierence in length of the front and back finger sections willnecessarily be varied according to the pattern and material of differentgloves. Adso, it will vary depending on the degree of finger' bend inrelation to the palm which is desired in the finished glove. In the caseof a molded rubberized fabric glove, for example, it may be desirable toset the fingers with only a slight bend thereof in relation to the palm,and in such case the difference in length between the back and frontfinger parts will be less than in a case where it is desired to mold thefingers with a considerably greater bend in relation to the palm.

-As previously explained, the increased length of the finger backs overthe finger fronts not only serves to enable the glove finger to assume anatural'bend in relation to the palm in their normal position, butenables this to be done without causing the finger seams across the tipsof the fingers to roll rearwardly towards the back face of the fingers.reference to Fig. 2 which illustrates the second finger. Therein point Irepresents the position of the seam across the finger tip, point 3]represents the finger base at the palm side of the finger, and point 2represents the finger base at the rear side of the finger. If the fingeras in conventional gloves was to extend straight away from the palm thedistance between at and y, measuring the front length of the finger,should be the same as the distance between a: and z This will beunderstood by which measures the back length of the finger. However, toenable the finger to have anormal set as shown curving forwardly towardsthe palm, it is obvious that the distance between a: and z is longerthan the distance between a: and y, and this requires a greater lengthof finger back. Otherwise if the finger is bent forwardly the fingerseam at x would shift rearwardly in order that a sufficient length offabricv be provided at the back.

To further improve the form of the finger tip where the fingers are tohave a normal bent position as shown in Fig. 2, and particularly toprevent wrinkling and distortion in such area, it has been founddesirable to shape the back and front finger parts with a commoncurvature across the finger tips. This is illustrated in Fig. 8 where- Iin the front II and back 2| of the second finger are shown in superposedrelation. While such parts are of different width, since part 2| alsoprovides the finger sides as well as the back thereof, they are made tothe same curvature between points p and q across the tip. Ordinarilysuch curvature will lie on the arc of a circle, but this is notnecessary.

The glove'of Fig. 1 constructed as herein explained is provided with aribbed knit fabric cuff 33, but obviously it may be provided with agauntlet cuff if desired. The glove as here described Imay be made intoa rubberized fabric glove in the usual manner. Thus, after the glove iscompletely seamed, it may be provided with a rubber coating 3! asindicated in Fig. and thereafter placed on a curved mold and vulcanized.Fig. 1 illustrates the complete glove after such an operation. By reasonof the manner of constructing the fingers, they are able. to assume andbe set during the vulcanizing process in the form shown withoutdistortion. The finger seams at the tops will be correctly positionedsubstantially medially of the fingers as shown at point x in Fig. 2.

While the invention is particularly useful for rubberized fabric gloves,it will be evident the same will have utility in connection with othertypes of gloves, particularly gloves constructed of heavy and stifimaterial such as certain grades of the leather.

I claim:

1. A rubber coated fabric glove molded with at least certain of thefingers thereof bent to incline inwardly relative to the palm portion,said bent fingers comprising fabric front and back finger sections andbeing covered with a vulcanized rubber coating, the front sections ofsaid bent fingers having curved top edges, the back finger sectionsbeing of greater width throughout the greater portion of their lengththan the front finger sections but having curved top edges of the samecurvature and width as the top edges of the front finger sections, saidfront and back sections of the respective bent fingers being seamedtogether along their top. and side edges, the back finger sections beingof sufiiciently greater length from finger base to finger tip than thecorresponding front sections that in the bent position in which thefingers are molded the upper edge seaming between the front and backfinger sections is disposed across the tops of the fingers intermediatethe front and back faces thereof.

2. A rubber coated glove molded with at least certain of the fingersthereof bent to incline inwardly relative to the palm portion, said bentfingers comprising front sections of fiat'formed fabric pieces integralwith the palm portion and back finger sections composed of fiat formedsingle piecesof fabric, the fabric front and back sections of said bentfingers being seamed together along their sides and around their upperedges, the fabric back sections of said fingers being of greater widthexcept in their top portions than the corresponding front fingersections, and also being of greater length from the finger base to thefinger tip than the front sections, whereby the fingers normally tend toincline inwardly relative to the palm, and said fingers being rubbercoated and molded in the bent position determined by the lengthdiiference between the front and back sections of the fingers whereinthe upper edge seaming is disposed across the tops of the fingersintermediate the front and back faces.

3. A molded rubber coated fabric glove including a palm portion, andfingers comprising front and back sections seamed together along theirside and around their upper edges, at least certain of the glove fingersbeing molded in forwarclly bent relation to the palm portion with theseams across the molded upper ends thereof set in a selected positionforwardly of the rear finger faces, said bent fingers being of suchgreater length in their back sections than in their front sections aswould tend to shift the seams at the fingertops forwardly of theirselected position if the fingers were molded straight, but the length ofthe finger back sections being so proportioned to the amount of bendmolded in the fingers that the fingertop seams occupy their selectedposition.

ARTHUR H. MASON.

